Play Me the Devil's Instrument
by Pacifera
Summary: Our Divine Violinist wanders into a bar and meets someone who knows he will be there.  In a separate room they discuss the unexplained absence of Monsieur de Valois.


*Disclaimer- I do not own these characters.*

"Play for me," she begged again, tugging at his arm as if to pull him to the violin case.

He shook his head, snapping his hand from her grasp. "No."

"Please?"

"No. It is the Devil's instrument." As if snared by a sudden whim he reached for the black leather of the instrument case and ran his fingertips in a sweeping arc over its surface, and then stroked the metal clasps holding the case shut. "No."

The girl sighed. "I'd give anything to hear you play. Mozart, Shostakovich, whatever you want." She stared at his hands, at his fingers as they touched the leather, at the tiny shadows cast by his knuckles and the flicker of candlelight in his fingernails. "Anything to hear you play."

He frowned. "Why? There are fiddlers on the street that would play any song they know for a coin of any denomination…why are you set on hearing me play? And what is Shostakovich?"

She sat down at the table in the edge of the ring of light cast by the candle. "Shostakovich…ah, he isn't around yet, is he? I bet you would like his music, though. It's wild; it's…." she paused, frowning. "Reckless! Yes, that's the word. Reckless. Much like you, don't you think?" She smiled in spite of herself, yet the smile seemed remorseful.

"Hmm. Reckless, am I? Yes, I am. I suppose you're right."

She nodded. "Reckless. But not impulsive. _He_ was the impulsive one. You know who I mean."

"Yes." His fingers tapped the buckles of the case. "But you never answered my question. Why do you wish to hear me play?"

The girl glanced away, taking her eyes from him for the first time. "Yes, there are plenty who can play a violin, with skill and whatnot. But when you do it, the playing is _yours_…uniquely?" She glanced up again, intent on his eyes. "When you play, it's _you_, it's you on the strings! That's it. It's more than music, more than expression, it's you through the music, in the music. _You_ _are_ the music. That's the difference. That's why you could never…live without it." She broke into a whisper with the last three words and glanced away again. "But why don't you want to do it? Normally no one can stop you from it. Why won't you do it?"

He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, and rubbed his face with his fingers. "It's the Devil's instrument."

"What? That never stopped you before."

"No, true."

"What's the real reason?"

"I simply…can't do it now. I feel so in the dark. When I play, it's darkness and fire as one; it's all the fury and frustration and chaos of my life, but the love too. It's everything. But part of that is gone, and everything else is gone with it. I cannot have the whole without a part. With the fire gone I cannot even perceive the darkness."

The girl slipped a hand over her mouth. "_He's_ gone."

"Yes."

It was silent a moment. The candle flickered with a sudden draft and the pool of light pitched forward, engulfing her hands for a moment and drawing them into the circle of illumination.

He frowned, as if contemplating something, and then looked up. "How did you come to be here? You never told me who you are, and yet you know seem to know me… and him as well. Did he send you? Do you know where he is?"

The girl bit her lip. "No and yes. He doesn't know me in the least. But I know where he is, yes. I can't tell you where... but maybe I could tell you why he left."

He jumped up and crossed the table in an instant to take hold of her shoulders. "Tell me! I beg of you!"

She smiled, guilty and afraid but unrelenting. "Will you play for me?"

"Yes, fine, tell me where he is!"

"I can't tell you where he is." She shook her head, unable to meet his eyes. "It wouldn't do any good for you to go and find him. But I can tell you why, sort of. You wouldn't believe the whole story. But I can tell you enough of the truth that it'll help but still be plausible. Yeah?"

"Tell me! Tell me all of it!" He shook her shoulders, expression desperate and anxious.

"Okay, okay, well, you remember the night he left. You know he was taken, that something came in through the window and sort of made off with him. Right?"

"Yes, yes, go on!"

"Right, well, the thing that took him changed him. It asked him if he wanted it, but he said no…but the thing did it anyway. Now the thing's dead by its own hand, but your friend is changed beyond return. The thing left him money, and that's why he's sent it to you, and his family…I know it's no consolation, and he knows it too, but I guess he thought, why not share the money if he could? But the money is really irrelevant to the whole thing; it's just a random perk. The important part is that he has been made into something else, and he thinks he should stay away from you. For your sake. He cares for you as much as ever, and he misses you terribly!"

"But, what do you mean he's changed? Why won't he see me?"

"He wants to. Desperately. But he's doing everything he can to keep himself away from you."

"But why?"

"Because…he doesn't want to hurt you."

He let go of her shoulders and struck his fists down on the table. The candle jerked and almost fell. "What could hurt more than leaving, without a note, without a trace? As if he'd just abandoned all of us! What could be worse than leaving me in the dark? Not knowing! It's the worst irony. He always said that was the worst crime, for mortals to die and pass into oblivion never knowing what anything means! But he would leave me not knowing…it was as if he never cared, as if everything he ever said was hollow, meant nothing."

"No! He always cared and he still does! Make no mistake about that. If he didn't care so much he'd come to you and be with you because that's what he wants to do. But he knows what would happen if he did and so he stays away from you."

"But why this distance? What disaster would commence if he would come back?"

"It's because he wants…to make you like him. To work the change on you."

"And why shouldn't he!"

"BECAUSE IT WOULD MEAN DISASTER!" The outburst was sudden, but not of anger, merely desperation. The girl nodded to herself, receding into a whisper again. "It would mean disaster and he knows it. Remember, when he was offered it, he said no? But it was forced on him. It's not a gift, it's not an esoteric power! It's a horror. But he'd give it to you to be with you…but he knows he mustn't. He cares more for you, you must understand, than simple desire, because he would protect you rather than be with you. Despite how much he wants you he protects you from himself. Don't think he doesn't love you, don't think he's abandoned you because he doesn't care. It's the opposite! It's really the opposite."

He collapsed into the chair across the table where he had been sitting before, his head rocking back slightly as he let the words sink in. At length he said, "This change, what is it? What could be so dangerous?"

The girl rested her forehead in her hand, studying the grain of the table, then studying his hair. "I'm afraid that I'll anger you if I say it. You'll think I'm telling you lies."

He shook his head. "Just tell me. I trust you."

"You don't even know me. Let's see…do you believe in ghosts?"

"It's possible, I suppose. He's not a ghost?"

"No, no. But he's sort of a…a monster. Something of lore which Christianity would not approve of."

He laughed in spite of himself. "Christianity would not approve of us regardless."

She nodded. "Yes, but this is different. This is not a matter of ignorance and conventional ideas; I'm talking about real evil now. I don't know if you two can be together, with him what he is now. Maybe it could work. I don't know. But hear me, please, remember this: if he makes you like him _it won't work out_ between you. It'll tear you apart. You must never ask him for it."

"What? What is he?"

"I'm not the one to tell you that. But listen now. There are some people, people like him, who want to kill him. They know of you and they will use you to get to him. They will kidnap you to draw him where they want him and trap him. That mustn't happen. That's when everything will start to go wrong. He's tried to protect you from this secret world but he doesn't know what they're planning. I think you should get out of the city."

"What? No, I want to see him. I don't care what he is. Why won't you tell me what he is? I saw him taken through the window in the middle of the night. I'll believe you if you tell me he's some kind of monster now. I don't care. I just want to know what the hell is happening!"

"Fine. He's immortal and he drinks blood to stay alive. Is that what you wanted to hear?"

He stood up from the table and stepped away. "What…like a vampire? He's a vampire? And these people who mean to kidnap me are vampires?" He began to laugh, a low hollow preposterous sound. "He is a vampire? Good God."


End file.
